Milestones

Today is my daughter’s 65th birthday; a very important milestone, indeed. I believe she wanted to grit her teeth and yell, “Noooo!” on some earlier birthday milestones in her life; although she looked forward eagerly to each new experience of life’s milestones and was in a hurry to make them happen. I also believe she is embracing this milestone with grace, wit and the enjoyment of a life well lived, and the blessings of having a wonderful family.

I found a book in our small ‘residents library’ that was titled, “1,003 Great Things About Getting Older,” by Lisa Birnbach, Ann Hodgman, Patricia Marks and David Owen. I am not at all sure that I agree, or accept the full 1,000 plus statements, but being curious I checked them out.

One quote was by Bernard Baruch, a statesman, financier, etc., well known for his sagacity during an earlier part of my adult life. He said, “Old age is always fifteen years older than I am.” I’ve heard this statement many times, with variations; most frequently using a ten year age gap, perhaps because we become more fully aware of the years as we begin each new decade.

The other quote here is by Groucho Marx, a well known comedian of the day, “Growing old is something you do if you’re lucky.” A variation on that is “Growing old is not so bad when you consider the alternative.”

Getting older is something that begins from the day we are born. There is nothing we can do about that except enjoy each day, month, year as much as we can. There are some things we can control in our lives by the decisions we make. But there is much that is beyond our control and we must find a way to accept it, live with it, or change it if we can.

I have said that “Life is like being on a runaway train that you can’t stop, so you might as well enjoy the ride.” I was never too much concerned with advancing milestones and enjoyed whatever age I was. So, if you ask me if I am still enjoying the age that I am in the ninth decade of my life, the answer is, “As much as I can, but not as much I would like to.” The chief obstruction in that path being the after shingles pain that I’ve had to deal with, which is now rapidly marching down the last half of its second year. It does keep me from doing some things I would like to do, and succeeds in making me more miserable, when I do some of them anyway for short periods.

Medications have not helped, but created other problems, while making me feel rotten at the same time. I try to ignore the pain, using mind over matter, keeping my mind busy, etc. No, I have not neglected prayer, but for whatever reason, God is leaving it in my life.

Another quote which I believe was a part of a song said, “Into each life some rain must fall, but too much is falling in mine.” The rain in my life is nothing compared to what many others have endured. I, too, am richly blessed in having a wonderful family, which includes not only today’s milestone daughter, but a second daughter and a son as well. Of course along with that are the spouses of said children, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The Lord has indeed smiled on me.

I know you are enjoying this milestone birthday today. I applaud you for embracing it with your usual verve, and wish you many more such happy occasions.